System and method for updating monitoring software using content model with validity attributes

ABSTRACT

According to some embodiments, each of a plurality of computer systems to be monitored receives a monitoring solution agent code portion and a monitoring solution agent content portion, the monitoring solution agent code portion and monitoring solution agent content portion together forming a monitoring solution agent. The monitoring solution agent code portion and monitoring solution agent content portion may comprise a remote Monitoring Solution Agent that executes at the computer system to be monitored. According to some embodiments, monitoring solution agent content portion includes a data source layer, a data provider layer, a request layer, and a user interface layer.

BACKGROUND

A computer system may include applications that are released and able torun on various combinations of database systems, operating systems,virtualization layers and cloud services, such asInfrastructure-as-a-Service (“IaaS”). Various infrastructure componentsof the computer system may be instrumented and monitored to help keepbusiness processes up and running. While a snapshot of currentmonitoring data may provide a relatively good impression of currentsystem behavior, monitoring data history for a relatively long period oftime may better help determine how the behavior of the computer systemchanges over time. For example, a monitoring data history of more thanone year may be maintained, which might add up to several 100 Giga-Bytes(“GB”) of raw data for various elements of the computer system.Moreover, a centralized monitoring solution may store monitoring datahistory for many different computer systems, which will further increasethe amount of data that needs to be stored, and may also causereplicated events and alerts to occur. Keeping such a substantial amountof data may be expensive and increase the Total Cost of Ownership(“TCO”) of computer systems. Further, attempting to install monitoringcode locally at each computer system may be impractical if there isresistance to the idea of updating the monitoring code relativelyfrequently (to support changes that are made to database versions,operating systems, hardware, etc.). Still further, many differenttopologies may need to be supported, and an efficient and accuratemethod of doing so may be desired.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a computer system including a monitoringplatform.

FIG. 2 illustrates a system wherein multiple computer systems may bemonitored by a monitoring solution manager.

FIG. 3 illustrates a system wherein a monitoring solution managerdeploys content to be tailored by monitoring agents at multiple computersystems.

FIG. 4 is a flow diagram of a central monitoring solution manager methodaccording to some embodiments.

FIG. 5 is a block diagram of monitoring agent components in accordancewith some embodiments.

FIG. 6 is a flow diagram of a local monitoring method at a computersystem according to some embodiments.

FIG. 7 is a block diagram of a monitoring apparatus according to someembodiments.

FIG. 8 illustrates content modeling layers in accordance with someembodiments.

FIG. 9 is a flow chart of a monitoring agent content portion creationmethod according to some embodiments.

FIG. 10 illustrates content code and a content life cycle in accordancewith some embodiments.

FIG. 11 is a system illustrating some of the steps associated with thebuilding of a tailored monitoring solution in accordance with someembodiments.

FIG. 12 is a flow diagram of a build time method in accordance with someembodiments.

FIG. 13 is a flow diagram of a run time method according to someembodiments.

FIG. 14 illustrates exemplary relationships between content tables inaccordance with some embodiments.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

The following description is provided to enable any person in the art tomake and use the described embodiments and sets forth the best modecontemplated for carrying out some embodiments. Various modifications,however, will remain readily apparent to those in the art.

In some cases, a computer system may include applications that arereleased and able to run on various combinations of database systems,operating systems, virtualization layers and cloud services, such asIaaS. By way of example, only FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a computersystem 100 including a computer system 102 to be monitored by amonitoring platform. The computer system 102 may include a real timeanalytics, interactive data exploration and application platform 110that communicates with a real-time data acquisition device 120. Theapplication platform 110 might be associated with, for example, theHigh-Performance ANalytic Appliance (“HANA”) in-memory, column-oriented,relational database management system developed and marketed by SAP SE®.The application platform 110 may include, for example, an OnLineAnalytical Processing (“OLAP”) engine, a predictive engine, a spatialengine, and/or application logic and rendering. The real-time dataacquisition device 120 may include landscape transformation, areplication server, and/or an event stream processor. According to someembodiments, the application platform 110 and/or real-time dataacquisition device 120 may exchange information with transactional,analytical, online applications 132. The application platform may alsoexchange information with customer mobile applications 134 (e.g.,associated with mobile platforms), a business object suite 136 (e.g.,associated with exploration, reporting, dashboarding, predictivefunctions, and/or mobile versions) and/or business objects data services140.

Various infrastructure components of the computer system 102 may beinstrumented and monitored to help keep business processes up andrunning. While a snapshot may provide a relatively good impression ofcurrent computer system 102 behavior, the monitoring platform 150 mayreceive monitoring data and store information into a storage unit 160 asmonitoring data history 170 for a relatively long period of time tobetter determine how the behavior of the computer system 100 changesover time. For example, a monitoring data history 170 of more than oneyear may be maintained, which might add up to several 100 GB of raw datafor various elements of the computer system 100. Keeping such asubstantial amount of data, however, may be expensive and increase theTCO of the system 100.

Further note that a centralized monitoring solution may store monitoringdata history for many different computer systems, which will furtherincrease the amount of data that needs to be stored, and may also causereplicated events and alerts to occur. For example FIG. 2 illustrates asystem 200 wherein multiple computer systems 202 (e.g., labeled computersystem A, computer system B, etc.) may be monitored by a monitoringsolution manager 250. Each computer system 202 may includeinfrastructure components (e.g., associated with applications,databases, operating systems, virtualization, and/or hardware) that areinstrumented to allow monitoring to keep business processes up andrunning. Vendor monitoring tools, however, typically focus on individualstack components, whereas an integrated view of all applications andstack components may be desired to localize and analyze problems incomplex environments.

The monitoring solution manager 250 may regularly collect monitoringdata of applications and the underlying technology stack componentswithin multiple system landscapes. The collected data may be stored in acentral database 260 and consolidated into data providers (InfoCubes270) that may be optimized for reporting. Data from such unifiedproviders may then be processed by landscape administrators to localizeand analyze problems. Thus, as illustrated in FIG. 2, data replicationand monitoring may be achieved by pulling and extracting data regularlyfrom local computer systems 202 and the underlying technology stacks.The duplicated data may be consolidated at the monitoring solutionplatform and persisted in the central database 260 where it may beaccessed by an end-user.

The computer system 202 may simply provide Application ProgrammingInterfaces (“APIs”) to allow access to raw data. Knowledge about datamodels and analytic capabilities may be implemented as part of themonitoring solution manager, which may also control the schedulingmechanism for regular data collection.

Note that persisting historic data in the central database 260 may haveseveral disadvantages. Setting up and maintaining a stable datareplication process is complex, and duplicating may GBs of monitoringdata increases the TCO of running the system 200 landscape.

One approach to reduce data redundancy, and still allow an integratedview on local applications and underlying stack components, may moveknowledge about data models and analytic capabilities into an “agent.”FIG. 3 illustrates a system 300 wherein a monitoring solution manager350 deploys content to be tailored by monitoring agents at multiplecomputer systems 302. These agents may include code components whichwere part of, and delivered with, a business application or a run timeenvironment.

According to some embodiments, an agent is able to automatically detectthe topology (application and infrastructure) of the local computersystem 302. The topology information together with the data models ofunderlying infrastructure components may then be used to build upunified data providers at run time. These data providers may be, forexample, accessed externally through web service calls, and the analyticcapabilities of the agents may allow slice and dice capabilities throughthe data provided. This approach moves away from a centralized store toa non-centralized store, where OLAP capabilities (data consolidation,externalization, and processing) may be shifted from the centralizedmonitoring solution manager 350 into the local computer systems 302without data replication.

For example, assume that a local computer system is running on an SAP®HANA® database in an Azure® cloud. The local agent at the computersystem 302 detects the current topology and builds up a run time withthe help of data models that externalize appropriate data providers(e.g., HANA®, Windows®, and HyperV® monitoring data). These dataproviders may allow access via oData calls, which are locally processedand transformed into queries against the underlying stack componentsusing SQL, web services or other query languages.

In order to preserve the monitoring capabilities of the solution manager350, analytic requests against the central database 360 may be instantlytranslated into web service calls targeting the local computer systems302. An agent within the solution manager 350 may act as a proxy toredirect these requests. As a result, replication of events, alerts, andmonitoring data into the solution manager 350 may be avoided and thedata is retrieved from each computer system 302 local stack as needed.

Note, however, that the agents at each computer system 302 may need tobe updated from time to time so that they support the latestinfrastructure component versions, such as new database and operatingsystem versions. Agent updates may also be needed when external dataconsumers, such as the solution manager 350, require changes to dataproviders or data processing (data requests). The release and supportcycles of infrastructure components and external data consumers mightnot be synchronized with the release and support cycles of otherapplication. Keeping the local agents at each computer system 302functionally synchronized with continually changing environments istherefore an ambitious task.

Although agent updates might be shipped in form of code supportpackages, customers operating the computer systems 302 may dislike codechanges, such as when legal regulations require thorough (and thusexpensive) tests before the changes can be applied productively. As aresult, upgrading a software stack just to enable new infrastructurecomponents may cause customers to hesitate. Moreover, single codecorrections may not be an appropriate alternative to support cumulativecode corrections because such single code corrections are not intendedto resolve complex or stacked code modifications. As a result, thesupport infrastructure of the installed agents at the computer systems302 may fall behind over time, with a potentially negative impact on thesupportability of the computer systems 302.

To avoid such problems, FIG. 4 comprises a flow diagram of a method orprocess 400 according to some embodiments. The method 400 of FIG. 4 andall other processes mentioned herein may be embodied inprocessor-executable program code read from one or more ofnon-transitory computer-readable media, such as a floppy disk, a CD-ROM,a DVD-ROM, a Flash drive, and a magnetic tape, and then stored in acompressed, uncompiled and/or encrypted format. In some embodiments,hard-wired circuitry may be used in place of, or in combination with,program code for implementation of processes according to someembodiments. Embodiments are therefore not limited to any specificcombination of hardware and software. Further note that the steps of themethods described herein may be performed in any order that ispractical.

At S410, it may be arranged for a monitoring solution agent code portionto be provided to each of a plurality of remote computer systems to bemonitored. As used here, the phrase “computer systems” might refer to,for example, systems that include a database system, an operatingsystem, a virtualization layer, a cloud service, an infrastructure as aservice platform, a real-time analytics, interactive data explorationand application platform, a real time data acquisition platform, atransactional, analytical, online application, a customer mobileapplication, a business object suite, and/or a business objects dataservice. The monitoring solution agent code portion may be provided tocomputer systems along with business application or a run timeenvironment and may comprise, for example, a content management andinterpretation engine and include topology data (at run time, while atdesign time it may include code for topology detection and/ordiscovery), system data, connections data (at run time, while at designtime it may include code needed to connect to local infrastructurecomponents and/or applications), a user interface framework, a requestcontroller, and/or a request processor to communicate with a monitoredcomputer system.

At S420, a centralized monitoring solution manager, coupled to acommunication device adapted to communicate with the plurality of remotecomputer systems, may hold (e.g., receive and store) a monitoringsolution agent content portion for the remote computer systems to bemonitored. The monitoring solution agent code portion and monitoringsolution agent content portion together may form a monitoring solutionagent. The monitoring solution agent content portion may include, forexample, navigation information, user interface information,personalization information (e.g., including roll based customizingand/or customization performed by an end user), a data provider, a datasource, mapping data, request data, aggregation data, thresholds,calculations, collector information, database metadata, operating systemmetadata, and/or platform specific metadata. Note that the monitoringsolution agent code portion may make use of a content manager to tailorand deploy the monitoring solution agent content portion.

At S430, the centralized monitoring solution manager may transmit themonitoring solution agent content portion to establish a remotemonitoring solution agent at each computer system to be monitored. Notethat according to any of the embodiments described herein, the contentportion may instead be received via any other download area (e.g., adownload marketplace on the web). According to some embodiments, thecentralized monitoring solution manager may also locally create acentralized monitoring solution agent. In this case, a monitoringrequest may be transmitted from the local centralized monitoringsolution agent to one of the remote monitoring solution agentsestablished at the computer systems to be monitored.

Subsequently, the centralized monitoring solution manager may determinea change that may be associated with one or more of the computer systemsbeing monitored (e.g., a new database version has been released).According to some embodiments, the solution manager may recognize thatthere is a new agent content version available in a download area (anddevelopment of new agent content versions may be triggered by a newversions of the monitored infrastructure components). In this case, thecentralized monitoring solution manager may update, based on the change,the monitoring solution agent content portion for the computer systemsto be monitored, and transmit the updated monitoring solution agentcontent portion to each of the computer systems (either directly or viaa download marketplace on the web). The change might be associated with,for example, hardware, virtualization, an operating system, a database,and/or an application. In this way, the content portion may be used tofacilitate updates to the remote monitoring solution agents. Note thatcontent updates are an alternative to code changes and may include adescription of objects, attributes, and their dependencies.

In a non-centralized scenario, as described with respect to FIG. 3,remote agents may have full control over the whole stack of themonitoring solution: data sources, data provider, data requests, anduser interfaces. These may allow for a content driven monitoringsolution wherein local agents may be updated without changing code inthe software stack. Therefore, major parts of the monitoring agent'slogic may be converted into descriptive content, which makes theremaining code base of the monitoring agents quite slim.

FIG. 5 is a block diagram of system wherein a monitoring agent 510monitors a computer system 502 in accordance with some embodiments. Inparticular, the monitoring agent 510 may include a monitoring solutionagent code portion 520 that makes use of a content manager 540 to tailorand deploy a monitoring solution agent content portion 530 to facilitatemonitoring of the computer system 502. The agent code portion 520 maycomprise a simple content management and interpretation engine. Thecontent portion 530 may describe the objects of the monitoring solutionalong with dependencies. Both the agent portion 520 and content portion530 build up the monitoring solution agent 510 at run time. Thedescriptive content portion 530 is a convex hull that containsdescriptions for each possible software component version (includingcomponents that may not be present at a particular computer system beingmonitored). For example, software components may comprise SYBASE® ASE orSUSE LINUX® whereas SYBASE ASE® V16 and SUSE LINUX® SLES 11 mayrepresent software component versions. The content manager 540 mayinterpret and manage content at run time to establish a tailoredmonitoring solution, which depends on the topology and infrastructurecomponents of the monitored computer system 502.

FIG. 6 is a flow diagram of a local monitoring method 600 at a computersystem according to some embodiments. In some embodiments, the one ofthe computer systems 302 of FIG. 3 executes program code to perform themethod 600. At S610, a monitoring solution agent code portion may bereceived. For example, a local monitoring system at a computer systemmay receive the agent code portion along with a run time environment.

At S620, a monitoring solution agent content portion may be receivedfrom a centralized monitoring solution manager. Note that the contentportion may be received directly from the solution manager or may bereceived via any other download area (e.g., such as a downloadmarketplace on the web). The monitoring solution agent code portion andmonitoring solution agent content portion together may form a MonitoringSolution Agent. At S630, the monitoring solution agent may be locallyexecuted to monitor the computer system. For example, the solution agentmay detect of the topology of the local system and utilize theappropriate portions of the content portion. In this way, the engine orcode portion of the agent may execute using the existing run timeenvironment and there is no need to deploy a new or additionalenvironment to support the local agent. As a result, the setup andmaintenance of the agent may be as simple and stable as possible for endusers.

At S640, an updated monitoring solution agent content portion may bereceived directly from the centralized monitoring solution manager orany other download area (e.g., such as a download marketplace on theweb). The updated monitoring solution agent content may be associatedwith a change in, for example, hardware, virtualization, an operatingsystem, a database, and/or an application of the computer system to bemonitored (or another computer system). At S650, the monitoring solutionagent, including the updated monitoring solution agent content portion,may be locally executed to monitor the computer system as appropriate inview of the change reflected in the updated agent content portion.According to some embodiments, the local monitoring system may receive amonitoring request from the remote centralized monitoring solutionagent. The local monitoring system may then transmit, to the remotecentralized monitoring solution agent, a monitoring response to themonitoring request.

Note that embodiments of a monitoring system may be implemented in anyof a number of different ways. For example, FIG. 7 is a block diagram ofa monitoring apparatus 700 according to some embodiments. The apparatus700 may comprise a general-purpose computing apparatus and may executeprogram code to perform any of the functions described herein. Theapparatus 700 may include other unshown elements according to someembodiments.

The apparatus 700 includes a processor 710 operatively coupled to acommunication device 720, a data storage device 730, one or more inputdevices 740, one or more output devices 750, and a memory 760. Thecommunication device 720 may facilitate communication with externaldevices, such as a reporting client, a data storage device, acentralized monitoring solution manager and/or elements of a computersystem being monitored. The input device(s) 740 may comprise, forexample, a keyboard, a keypad, a mouse or other pointing device, amicrophone, knob or a switch, an Infra-Red (“IR”) port, a dockingstation, and/or a touch screen. The input device(s) 740 may be used, forexample, to enter information into the apparatus 700 such asconfiguration information, monitoring thresholds, report generationrequests, etc. The output device(s) 750 may comprise, for example, adisplay (e.g., a display screen) a speaker, and/or a printer to outputinformation, such as monitoring data history reports.

The data storage device 730 may comprise any appropriate persistentstorage device, including combinations of magnetic storage devices(e.g., magnetic tape, hard disk drives and flash memory), opticalstorage devices, Read Only Memory (“ROM”) devices, etc., while thememory 760 may comprise Random Access Memory (“RAM”).

A monitoring solution 732 may comprise program code executed byprocessor 710 to cause apparatus 700 to perform any one or more of theprocesses described herein, including those performed by a centralizedmonitoring solution manager and a local monitoring system or apparatusat a computer system to be monitored. Embodiments are not limited toexecution of these processes by a single apparatus. The monitoring datahistory 734 may be stored, for example, in a columnar database. The datastorage device 730 may also store data and other program code forproviding additional functionality and/or which are necessary foroperation of apparatus 700, such as device drivers, operating systemfiles, etc.

According to some embodiments, a content portion for a monitoring agentmay be organized by software components, each consisting of four contentlayers: data sources, data providers, requests and user interfaces. Forexample, FIG. 8 illustrates content modeling layers 800 in accordancewith some embodiments. The data source layer may be associated with anentry point for monitoring data. The data source layer may describe theinterfaces to infrastructure components that are to be monitored. Notethat common interface types may include a table, a Table-User DefinedFunction (“T-UDF”), a stored procedure, and functions for databases.According to some embodiments, Common Information Model (“CIM”)providers and web services are used for the operating system. Otherinterfaces may be used to discover system topology. The data sources maybe mapped to data providers, which are the internal data provider layer.The data providers may be accessed by queries, which define the requestlayer. Requests may be linked to screens and user interface elementswhich define the front end user interface layer of the monitoringsolution.

FIG. 9 is a flow chart of a monitoring agent content portion creationmethod 900 according to some embodiments. In particular, at S910 a datasource layer may be created to describe interfaces to infrastructurecomponents of the computer system to be monitored. At S920, a dataprovider layer may be created having data providers mapped to interfacesin the data source layer. At S930, a request layer may be createdincluding queries to access the data providers in the data providerlayer. At S940, a user interface layer may be create to receive resultsfrom the request layer and to establish screens and user interfaceelements comprising a front end to the monitoring solution.

Note that having a four layer content model for each software componentas described in accordance with some embodiment may provide severaladvantages. For example, such a content model may result in flexibledata modelling and encapsulation. That is, technical changes of the datasource layers might not be recognized in the request or user interfacelayer. Moreover, a separation of concerns may result in a developmentteam A working on software component A might avoid interfering withdevelopment team B working on software component B. Still further, astable content build process may be established such that content errorsof software component A will not break the content build process forsoftware component B, etc. In addition, a defined sequence for thecontent build process may require that: data providers need datasources, requests need data providers, and the user interface needsrequests before being defined. Structuring the content into four layers,bottom-up, may help resolve those dependencies during the build process.

By separating agents into an engine and content components, embodimentsmay allow the monitoring solution to be updated without code changes atany time. Note that the thin code or engine portion of an agent mayprovide affordable portability to other run time environments, such as aJava stack, where previously written content may be re-used in the newenvironment.

FIG. 10 illustrates content code and a content life cycle 1000 includinga development environment 1010, downloads, and distribution of agentcontent parts. The development environment 1010 may, according to someembodiments, include application code, agent code, and agent contentthat may be created for customers. In some embodiments, the developmentenvironment 1010 may send these elements to a solution manager 1030and/or monitored systems 1040, 1050 via traditional methods (e.g., alongwith a business applications and/or a run time environment).

According to some embodiments, content may either be automaticallydownloaded via the web 1020 and deployed to local monitored systems1040, 1050 by the solution manager 1030 or downloaded and deployed“manually” by administrators. Once the new content is deployed to alocal monitored system 1040, 1050, activating the new content in thelocal monitored system 1040, 1050 may comprise a manual/intended stepthat needs to be executed by administrators. For example, a popup windowmight state that “New content version is available. Activate new contentversion?” in which case, the administrator might select “Yes” or “No” asdesired.

The convex content may be developed for customers at design time andthen provided for download via a marketplace web site. Note, however,that when a new application support package (e.g., containing cumulativecode changes) is delivered via a standard code delivery channel, thelatest convex agent content may be bundled to it (e.g., just tableentries) to ensure that each local monitored system 1040, 1050 has atleast one agent content part available “out of the box.” Further notethat both customers and support representatives may use the samemonitoring solution and it may be desirable to provide support at anytime without delay.

The agent content part that is bundled with application support packagesmight not be active after the support package is applied. Instead, itmay need to be activated manually (in a similar manner as described withrespect to downloaded content). Because customers may be reluctant toapply the latest application support packages, the agent content partthat is bundled with support packages might already be outdated when itreaches the local monitored systems 1040, 1050. Customers may thereforenot activate the agent content part that is bundled with supportpackages, because the local monitored systems 1040, 1050 may alreadyhave newer content versions downloaded from the web 1020 (e.g.,automatically by the solution manager 1030 or manually by anadministrator). That is, the agent content part that is bundled withsupport packages may comprise a fall back option for support personnel.

Note that major parts of an agent's logic may be included in thedescriptive content, and a content manager of an agent may interpret andmanage content at run time to establish tailored monitoring solution forthe solution manager 1030 and local monitored systems 1040, 1050.Moreover, the solution may depend on the topology of the monitoredsystems 1040. To realize such a solution, some embodiments describedherein may: allow assignment of validity ranges to individual contentobjects at design time; discover the topology of the system in whichcontent is going to be deployed; and/or facilitate a fast and safeevaluation of content validity ranges to determine content objectsappropriate in view of the captured environment at run time.

FIG. 11 is a system illustrating some of the steps 1100 associated withthe building of a tailored monitoring solution in accordance with someembodiments. In initially, a set of Content Objects 1110 (e.g., CO01through CO11) are created and each is assigned to a validity 1120 (e.g.,A through F) at design time as appropriate. Note that the creation ofcontent at design time may take into account a large variety of localconditions in which content is supposed to be then deployed. Moreover,not all content objects will match all local conditions. A mechanism maytherefore be provided to tag content objects for the appropriateenvironmental conditions for which they apply. To provide such amechanism, the validity range 1120 per content object 1110 is defined(A) and (B) at design time. A validity range 1120 might, for example,include a number of valid software components 1110, a number of validsoftware component versions, and/or minimum agent version requirements.Examples of software components might include ASE or LINUX, forinstance, while ASE V16 and LINUX SLES 11 might represent softwarecomponent versions. Note that multiple content objects 1110 can sharethe same validity range 1120 (e.g., CO04, CO05, and CO11 are allassigned to validity C in FIG. 11) and vice versa (that is, a contentobject may belong to more than one environment and there may be a n:mrelationship between environments and content objects).

Before any content object can be used in a target system 1140, thetopology 1150 of the target system 1140 may be discovered at (C) by anagent 1130. The derived topology model 1150 comprises a basis togenerate a tailored monitoring solution at run time. Using the topologymodel created at (D), concrete validities may be determined at (E),which can then be used to evaluate all content objects 1110 to define asubset of content objects appropriate for the target topology (e.g.,illustrate by the validities 1120 having solid lines in FIG. 11). Theseselected (e.g., valid) content objects 1160 together with the agent 1130form the run time of the tailored monitoring solution. According to someembodiments, a list of validity identifiers may be buffered in memoryand used as a fast filter for content objects 1110 such that contentobjects 1110 are only loaded into memory on demand (e.g., when a newdata request is issued or a new user interface screen is loaded).

FIG. 12 is a flow diagram of a build time method 1200 that may beperformed in a development environment in accordance with someembodiments. At S1210, a set of new content objects may be created. AtS1220, validities may be assigned to content objects as appropriate. Thecontent objects and validities may be associated with, for example,agent content portions that may be distributed to computing systems tobe monitoring according to any of the embodiments of FIG. 10.

FIG. 13 is a flow diagram of a run time method 1300 that might beperformed, for example, by a local agent at a computer system to bemonitored at run time according to some embodiments. At S1310, thetopology of the particular computer system to be monitored may bediscovered. At S1320, a topology model run time object may be built forthe computer system to be monitored. At S1330, concrete validities ofthe computer system to be monitored may be evaluated and determined. AtS1340, content objects may be filtered on demand based on the concretevalidities that were evaluated and end user activities. At S1350, a runtime for the tailored monitoring solution may be built. For example, theagent along with the filtered content may comprise an appropriate,tailored run time for the computer system to be monitored.

FIG. 14 illustrates exemplary relationships 1400 between content tablesin accordance with some embodiments. In particular, the relationships1400 are illustrated for an implementation example that shows thedependency between system topology, validities, and content objects. Afirst content table 1410 (e.g., a DOTM_SYS Select Entries table)associated with topology might include, for example, a systemidentifier, a system type, a system subtype, a technical identifier,and/or a system release identifier. Similarly, a second content table1420 (e.g., a DOCR_ENV Select Entries table) associated with environmentmight include, for example, information about multiple computer systemsto be monitored. For each of those computer systems, the table 1420might include, for example, an environment identifier, a DOCM version, asystem type and subtype (e.g., corresponding to the system type andsubtype of the first table 1410), and minimum and maximum system releaseidentifiers (e.g., which may be used to evaluate the system releaseidentifier in the first table 1410). Finally, a third content table 1430(e.g., a DORDS_TABLE Select Entries table) associated with content mightinclude, for example, information about multiple computer systems to bemonitored. For each of those computer systems, the table 1430 mightinclude, for example, a DOCM version, an environment identifier (e.g.,corresponding to the environment identifier of the second table 1420), asource identifier, a processor identifier, a schema name, and a tablename.

The foregoing diagrams represent logical architectures for describingprocesses according to some embodiments, and actual implementations mayinclude more or different components arranged in other manners. Othertopologies may be used in conjunction with other embodiments. Moreover,each system described herein may be implemented by any number of devicesin communication via any number of other public and/or private networks.Two or more of such computing devices may be located remote from oneanother and may communicate with one another via any known manner ofnetwork(s) and/or a dedicated connection. Each device may comprise anynumber of hardware and/or software elements suitable to provide thefunctions described herein as well as any other functions. For example,any computing device used in an implementation of a system describedherein may include a processor to execute program code such that thecomputing device operates as described herein.

All systems and processes discussed herein may be embodied in programcode stored on one or more non-transitory computer-readable media. Suchmedia may include, for example, a floppy disk, a CD-ROM, a DVD-ROM, aFlash drive, magnetic tape, and solid state Random Access Memory (RAM)or Read Only Memory (ROM) storage units. Embodiments are therefore notlimited to any specific combination of hardware and software.

Embodiments described herein are solely for the purpose of illustration.Those in the art will recognize other embodiments may be practiced withmodifications and alterations to that described above.

What is claimed is:
 1. A design time apparatus, comprising: acommunication device to transmit information to be received by aplurality of computer systems to be monitored; and a design timeapplication, coupled to the communication device, including: a memorystoring processor-executable program code, and a processor to executethe processor-executable program code in order to cause the design timeapplication to: create a monitoring solution agent locally executed tomonitor a computer system, wherein the monitoring solution agentincludes at least some of a set of monitoring solution agent contentobjects and a monitoring agent code portion, wherein each monitoringsolution agent content object is organized by four content layers andincludes infrastructure components of the computer system to bemonitored, wherein the four content layers are:
 1. a data source layerdescribing interfaces to infrastructure components of the computersystem to be monitored,
 2. a data provider layer having data providersmapped to interfaces in the data source layer,
 3. a request layerincluding queries to access the data providers in the data providerlayer, and
 4. a user interface layer to receive results from the requestlayer and to establish screens and user interface elements comprising afront end to the monitoring solution, and wherein the monitoring agentcode portion includes code for topology detection of the computer systemto be monitored, assign at least one of a plurality of validities toeach of the monitoring solution agent content objects at design time,wherein a validity tags each of the monitoring solution agent contentobjects at design time with a valid software component, a valid softwarecomponent version and minimum agent version requirement needed for eachmonitoring solution agent object to be used at run-time, wherein thevalid software component, valid software component version and minimumagent version requirement is for a run-time environmental condition forwhich the monitoring solution agent content object is deployed tomonitor the computer system; and evaluate the valid software component,valid software component version and minimum agent version requirementto determine whether the monitoring solution agent content objectmatches the run-time environmental condition for which the monitoringsolution agent content object is deployed to monitor the computersystem.
 2. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein a single validity isassigned multiple monitoring solution agent content objects.
 3. Theapparatus of claim 1, wherein a single monitoring solution agent contentobject is assigned to multiple validities.
 4. The apparatus of claim 1,wherein monitoring solution agent content objects or validities areassociated with at least one of: (i) hardware, (ii) virtualization,(iii) an operating system, (iv) a database, and (v) an application. 5.The apparatus of claim 1, wherein at least some monitoring solutionagent content objects include at least one of: (i) navigationinformation, (ii) user interface information, (iii) personalizationinformation, (iv) a data provider, (v) a data source, (vi) mapping data,(vii) request data, (viii) aggregation data, (ix) thresholds, (x)calculations, (xi) collector information, (xii) database metadata,(xiii) operating system metadata, and (xiv) platform specific metadata.6. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the monitoring solution agent codeportion makes use of a content manager to tailor and deploy themonitoring solution agent content portion.
 7. The apparatus of claim 1,wherein at least one of the computer systems is associated with at leastone of: (i) a database system, (ii) an operating system, (iii) avirtualization layer, (iv) a cloud service, (v) an infrastructure as aservice platform, (vi) a real-time analytics, interactive dataexploration and application platform, (vii) a real time data acquisitionplatform, (viii) a transactional, analytical, online application, (ix) acustomer mobile application, (xii) a business object suite, and (xiii) abusiness objects data service.
 8. A non-transitory, computer-readablemedium storing program code, the program code executable by a processorof a design time application to cause the design time application to,for a plurality of computer systems to be monitored: create a monitoringsolution agent locally executed to monitor a computer system, whereinthe monitoring solution agent includes at least some of a set ofmonitoring solution agent content objects and a monitoring agent codeportion, wherein each monitoring solution agent content object isorganized by four content layers and includes infrastructure componentsof the computer system to be monitored, wherein the four content layersare:
 1. a data source layer describing interfaces to infrastructurecomponents of the computer system to be monitored,
 2. a data providerlayer having data providers mapped to interfaces in the data sourcelayer,
 3. a request layer including queries to access the data providersin the data provider layer, and
 4. a user interface layer to receiveresults from the request layer and to establish screens and userinterface elements comprising a front end to the monitoring solution,and wherein the monitoring agent code portion includes code for topologydetection of the computer system to be monitored; assign at least one ofa plurality of validities to each of the monitoring solution agentcontent objects at design time, wherein a validity tags each of themonitoring solution agent content objects at design time with a validsoftware component, a valid software component version and minimum agentversion requirement needed for each monitoring solution agent contentobject to be used at run-time, wherein the valid software component,valid software component version and minimum agent version requirementis for a run-time environmental condition for which the monitoringsolution agent content object is deployed to monitor the computersystem; and evaluate the valid software component, valid softwarecomponent version and minimum agent version requirement to determinewhether the monitoring solution agent content object matches therun-time environmental condition for which the monitoring solution agentcontent object is deployed to monitor the computer system.
 9. The mediumof claim 8, wherein a single validity is assigned multiple monitoringsolution agent content objects.
 10. The medium of claim 8, wherein asingle monitoring solution agent content object is assigned to multiplevalidities.
 11. The medium of claim 8, wherein monitoring solution agentcontent objects or validities are associated with at least one of: (i)hardware, (ii) virtualization, (iii) an operating system, (iv) adatabase, and (v) an application.
 12. A run time apparatus associatedwith a computer system to be monitored, comprising: a communicationdevice to receive monitoring solution agent content objects, whereinmonitoring solution agent content objects include infrastructurecomponents of a computer system to be monitored; and a run timeapplication, coupled to the communication device, including: a memorystoring processor-executable program code, and a processor to executethe processor-executable program code in order to cause the run timeapplication to: receive the monitoring solution agent content objectsorganized by four content layers including
 1. a data source layerdescribing interfaces to infrastructure components of the computersystem to be monitored,
 2. a data provider layer having data providersmapped to interfaces in the data source layer,
 3. a request layerincluding queries to access the data providers in the data providerlayer, and
 4. a user interface layer to receive results from the requestlayer and to establish screens and user interface elements comprising afront end to the monitoring solution, discover a local topology of thecomputer system to be monitored, evaluate concrete validities of thecomputer system to be monitored to determine whether the monitoringsolution agent content object matches a run-time environmental conditionfor which the monitoring solution agent content object is deployed tomonitor the computer system, wherein a validity tags each of themonitoring solution agent content objects at design time with a validsoftware component, a valid software component version and minimum agentversion requirement needed for each monitoring solution agent contentobject to be used at runtime, wherein the valid software component,valid software component version and minimum agent version requirementis for the run-time environmental condition for which the monitoringsolution agent content object is deployed, filter content objects ondemand based on the concrete validities that were evaluated and end useractivities, and build up run time for tailored monitoring solution. 13.The apparatus of claim 12, wherein the processor is further to build atopology model run time object for the computer system to be monitored.14. The apparatus of claim 13, wherein the topology model is associatedwith a change in at least one of: (i) hardware, (ii) virtualization,(iii) an operating system, (iv) a database, and (v) an application. 15.A non-transitory, computer-readable medium storing program code, theprogram code executable by a processor of a run time application tocause the run time application to: receive monitoring solution agentcontent objects organized by four content layers including
 1. a datasource layer describing interfaces to infrastructure components of thecomputer system to be monitored,
 2. a data provider layer having dataproviders mapped to interfaces in the data source layer,
 3. a requestlayer including queries to access the data providers in the dataprovider layer, and
 4. a user interface layer to receive results fromthe request layer and to establish screens and user interface elementscomprising a front end to the monitoring solution, wherein monitoringsolution agent content objects include infrastructure components of acomputer system to be monitored; discover a local topology of thecomputer system to be monitored; evaluate concrete validities of thecomputer system to be monitored to determine whether the monitoringsolution agent content object matches a run-time environmental conditionfor which the monitoring solution agent content object is deployed tomonitor the computer system, wherein a validity tags each of themonitoring solution agent content objects at design time with a validsoftware component, a valid software component version and minimum agentversion requirement, wherein the valid software component, validsoftware component version and minimum agent version requirement is forthe run-time environmental condition for which the monitoring solutionagent content object is deployed to monitor the computer system; filtercontent objects on demand based on the concrete validities that wereevaluated and end user activities; and build up run time for tailoredmonitoring solution.
 16. The medium of claim 15, wherein the processoris further to build a topology model run time object for the computersystem to be monitored.
 17. The medium of claim 15, wherein the topologymodel is associated with a change in at least one of: (i) hardware, (ii)virtualization, (iii) an operating system, (iv) a database, and (v) anapplication.